Station (sta), access point (ap) and method for aggregation of data packets for uplink transmission

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of a station (STA), access point (AP) and method for aggregation of data packets are generally described herein. The AP may transmit a trigger frame (TF) to an STA that indicates an access class (AC) constraint parameter and a traffic identifier (TID) aggregation limit parameter. The STA may select a group of aggregate TIDs from which medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) may be aggregated into an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU). The AC constraint parameter may indicate a recommended AC from which at least a portion of the aggregate TIDs are to be selected. The TID aggregation limit parameter may indicate a number of TIDs to be selected for the group of aggregate TIDs.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/301,915, filed Mar. 1, 2016 [referencenumber P96701Z (4884.487PRV)] which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless networks. Some embodiments relate towireless local area networks (WLANs) and Wi-Fi networks includingnetworks operating in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family ofstandards, such as the IEEE 802.11ac standard or the IEEE 802.11ax studygroup (SG) (named DensiFi). Some embodiments relate to high-efficiency(HE) wireless or high-efficiency WLAN or Wi-Fi (HEW) communications.Some embodiments relate to trigger frames (TFs). Some embodiments relateto aggregation of packets. Some embodiments relate to trafficidentifiers (TIDs). Some embodiments relate to multi-TID aggregation.Some embodiments relate to access classes (ACs).

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications has been evolving toward ever increasing datarates (e.g., from IEEE 802.11a/g to IEEE 802.11n to IEEE 802.11ac). Inhigh-density deployment situations, overall system efficiency may becomemore important than higher data rates. For example, in high-densityhotspot and cellular offloading scenarios, many devices competing forthe wireless medium may have low to moderate data rate requirements(with respect to the very high data rates of IEEE 802.11 ac). Arecently-formed study group for Wi-Fi evolution referred to as the IEEE802.11 High Efficiency WLAN (HEW) study group (SG) (i.e., IEEE 802.11ax)is addressing these high-density deployment scenarios.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example machine in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a station (STA) in accordance with some embodimentsand an access point (AP) in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of a method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates examples of access classes (ACs) and traffic types inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates example frames and packets that may be exchanged inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example Trigger Frame (TF) and example controlfields in accordance with some embodiments,

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of aggregation of packets in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates another example of aggregation of packets inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates another example of aggregation of packets inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates another example of aggregation of packets inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates another example of aggregation of packets inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates the operation of another method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 14 illustrates additional examples of TFs and additional examplesof control fields in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments. In some embodiments, the network 100 may be a HighEfficiency Wireless (HEW) Local Area Network (LAN) network. In someembodiments, the network 100 may be a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)or a Wi-Fi network. These embodiments are not limiting, however, as someembodiments of the network 100 may include a combination of suchnetworks. That is, the network 100 may support HEW devices in somecases, non HEW devices in some cases, and a combination of HEW devicesand non HEW devices in some cases. Accordingly, it is understood thatalthough techniques described herein may refer to either a non HEWdevice or to an HEW device, such techniques may be applicable to bothnon HEW devices and HEW devices in some cases.

Referring to FIG. 1, the network 100 may include any or all of thecomponents shown, and embodiments are not limited to the number of eachcomponent shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the network 100 mayinclude a master station (AP) 102 and may include any number (includingzero) of stations (STAs) 103 and/or HEW devices 104. In someembodiments, the AP 102 may transmit a trigger frame (TF) to an STA 103to indicate that the STA 103 is to perform an uplink data transmissionto the AP. In addition, the STA 103 may transmit uplink data packets,including aggregated packets, to the AP 102. The AP 102 may transmit oneor more block acknowledgement (BA) messages for the uplink data packets,in some cases. These embodiments will be described in more detail below.

The AP 102 may be arranged to communicate with one or more of thecomponents shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11standards (including 802.11ax and/or others), other standards and/orother communication protocols. It should be noted that embodiments arenot limited to usage of an AP 102. References herein to the AP 102 arenot limiting and references herein to the master station 102 are alsonot limiting. In some embodiments, a STA 103, HEW device 104 and/orother device may be configurable to operate as a master station.Accordingly, in such embodiments, operations that may be performed bythe AP 102 as described herein may be performed by the STA 103, HEWdevice 104 and/or other device that is configurable to operate as themaster station.

In some embodiments, one or more of the STAs 103 may be legacy stations(such as IEEE 802.11b/a/g, IEEE 802.1 in, IEEE 802.11ac stations). Theseembodiments are not limiting, however, as the STAs 103 may be configuredto operate as HEW devices 104 or may support HEW operation in someembodiments. The master station 102 may be arranged to communicate withthe STAs 103 and/or the HEW stations 104 in accordance with one or moreof the IEEE 802.11 standards, including 802.11ax and/or others. Inaccordance with some HEW embodiments, an access point (AP) may operateas the master station 102 and may be arranged to contend for a wirelessmedium (e.g., during a contention period) to receive exclusive controlof the medium for an HEW control period (i.e., a transmissionopportunity (TXOP)). The master station 102 may, for example, transmit amaster-sync or control transmission at the beginning of the HEW controlperiod to indicate, among other things, which HEW stations 104 arescheduled for communication during the HEW control period. During theHEW control period, the scheduled HEW stations 104 may communicate withthe master station 102 in accordance with a non-contention basedmultiple access technique. This is unlike conventional Wi-Ficommunications in which devices communicate in accordance with acontention-based communication technique, rather than a non-contentionbased multiple access technique. During the HEW control period, themaster station 102 may communicate with HEW stations 104 using one ormore HEW frames. During the HEW control period, STAs 103 not operatingas HEW devices may refrain from communicating in some cases. In someembodiments, the master-sync transmission may be referred to as acontrol and schedule transmission.

In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HEWcontrol period may be a scheduled orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA) technique, although this is not a requirement. In someembodiments, the multiple access technique may be a time-divisionmultiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency division multiple access(FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique maybe a space-division multiple access (SDMA) technique including amulti-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) (MU-MIMO)technique. These multiple-access techniques used during the HEW controlperiod may be configured for uplink or downlink data communications. Insome embodiments, a combination of techniques may be used, such as acombination of OFDMA and MU-MIMO.

The master station 102 may also communicate with STAs 103 and/or otherlegacy stations in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communicationtechniques. In some embodiments, the master station 102 may also beconfigurable to communicate with the HEW stations 104 outside the HEWcontrol period in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communicationtechniques, although this is not a requirement.

In some embodiments, the HEW communications during the control periodmay be configurable to use one of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz contiguousbandwidths or an 80+80 MHz (160 MHz) or a 320 MHz non-contiguousbandwidth. In some embodiments, a 320 MHz channel width may be used. Insome embodiments, sub-channel bandwidths less than 20 MHz may also beused. In these embodiments, each channel or sub-channel of an HEWcommunication may be configured for transmitting a number of spatialstreams.

In some embodiments, OFDMA signals may be exchanged between the AP 102and one or more STAs 103. As part of OFDMA transmission, channelresources (such as a frequency band available for usage) may be divided,allocated and/or partitioned into portions that may include resourceunits (RUs), resource blocks (RBs), sub-carriers, sub-channels, groupsof sub-carriers and/or other frequency unit. Although embodiments arenot limited as such, the portions may be non-overlapping, in someembodiments. For instance, non-overlapping RUs may be used. In addition,the RUs may include non-overlapping sub-carriers, in some embodiments.Embodiments are not limited to OFDMA signals, however, as CDMA signals,SC-FDMA signals and/or other signals may be exchanged, in someembodiments.

As an example, one or more STAs 103 may transmit uplink OFDMA signals tothe AP 102. For instance, a first portion (such as a first group of oneor more RUs) of the channel resources may be used by a first STA 103 fortransmission of a first uplink OFDMA signal and a second portion of thechannel resources (such as a second group of one or more RUs) may beused by a second STA 103 for transmission of a second uplink OFDMAsignal. This example is not limited to two STAs 103, however, and may beextended to accommodate more than the two STAs 103. In some cases, anSTA 103 may transmit an uplink orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) signal to the AP 102. In some embodiments,multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) techniques may beused by the STA 103 for uplink transmission. In some embodiments, acombination of OFDMA and MU-MIMO may be used by the STA 103 for uplinktransmission.

As another example, the AP 102 may transmit downlink OFDMA signals toone or more STAs 103. For instance, a first portion (such as a firstgroup of one or more RUs) of the channel resources may be used totransmit signals to a first STA 103 and a second portion of the channelresources (such as a second group of one or more RUs) may be used totransmit signals to a second STA 103. This example is not limited to twoSTAs 103, however, and may be extended to accommodate more than the twoSTAs 103. In some cases, the AP 102 may transmit an OFDM signal to asingle STA 103.

Different RU bandwidths and/or RU sizes may be used, in someembodiments. Accordingly, RUs of different bandwidths/sizes may includedifferent numbers of sub-carriers. As a non-limiting example, asub-carrier spacing of 78.125 kHz may be used. The RUs may include 26,52, 106 or 242 sub-carriers, which may correspond to effectivebandwidths of 2.03125, 4.0625, 8.28125, and 18.90625 MHz, respectively.As an example, the 18.90625 MHz effective bandwidth may be considered a20 MHz bandwidth, in some cases. It should be noted that the RUs are notnecessarily contiguous in frequency. It should also be noted that someparameters and example values, such as the sub-carrier spacing, RUs, RUbandwidths/sizes, number of sub-carriers per RU and/or other parameters,may be included in an 802.11 standard and/or other standard, in somecases, although embodiments are not limited to those parameters orvalues.

In some embodiments, a frame, signal, message and/or other element maybe exchanged, transmitted and/or received in accordance with contentionbased techniques. In some embodiments, a transmission of the frame,signal, message and/or other element may be performed after detection ofan inactivity period of the channel to be used for the transmission. Forinstance, it may be determined, based on channel sensing, that thechannel is available. As a non-limiting example, a minimum time durationfor the inactivity period may be based on an inter-frame spacing (IFS),which may be included in an 802.11 standard and/or other standard. Thatis, when inactivity is detected for a time duration that is greater thanor equal to the IFS, the channel may be determined to be available.Embodiments are not limited to usage of the IFS, however, as other timedurations, which may or may not be included in a standard, may be usedin some cases. In addition, back-off techniques may also be used, insome embodiments.

In some embodiments, high-efficiency wireless (HEW) techniques may beused, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.As an example, techniques included in 802.11ax standards and/or otherstandards may be used. In accordance with some embodiments, a masterstation 102 and/or HEW stations 104 may generate an HEW packet inaccordance with a short preamble format or a long preamble format. TheHEW packet may comprise a legacy signal field (L-SIG) followed by one ormore high-efficiency (HE) signal fields (HE-SIG) and an HE long-trainingfield (HE-LTF). For the short preamble format, the fields may beconfigured for shorter-delay spread channels. For the long preambleformat, the fields may be configured for longer-delay spread channels.These embodiments are described in more detail below. It should be notedthat the terms “HEW” and “HE” may be used interchangeably and both termsmay refer to high-efficiency Wireless Local Area Network operationand/or high-efficiency Wi-Fi operation.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware. Embodiments describedherein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configuredhardware and/or software.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine in accordancewith some embodiments. The machine 200 is an example machine upon whichany one or more of the techniques and/or methodologies discussed hereinmay be performed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 200 mayoperate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) toother machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 200 may operatein the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both inserver-client network environments. In an example, the machine 200 mayact as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed)network environment. The machine 200 may be an AP 102, STA 103, HEWdevice, HEW AP, HEW STA, UE, eNB, mobile device, base station, personalcomputer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, anetwork router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executinginstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated,the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection ofmachines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets)of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS),other computer cluster configurations.

Examples as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or anumber of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations andmay be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example,circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to externalentities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. Inan example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwareprocessors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g.,instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a modulethat operates to perform specified operations. In an example, thesoftware may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, thesoftware, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causesthe hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may beconfigured as respective different modules at different times. Softwaremay accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, toconstitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitutea different module at a different instance of time.

The machine (e.g., computer system) 200 may include a hardware processor202 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 204 and a static memory 206, some or all of which may communicatewith each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 208. The machine 200 mayfurther include a display unit 210, an alphanumeric input device 212(e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 214(e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 210, input device 212and UI navigation device 214 may be a touch screen display. The machine200 may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 216, asignal generation device 218 (e.g., a speaker), a network interfacedevice 220, and one or more sensors 221, such as a global positioningsystem (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. Themachine 200 may include an output controller 228, such as a serial(e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless(e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connectionto communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., aprinter, card reader, etc.).

The storage device 216 may include a machine readable medium 222 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 224(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 224 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 204,within static memory 206, or within the hardware processor 202 duringexecution thereof by the machine 200. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 202, the main memory 204, thestatic memory 206, or the storage device 216 may constitute machinereadable media. In some embodiments, the machine readable medium may beor may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Insome embodiments, the machine readable medium may be or may include acomputer-readable storage medium.

While the machine readable medium 222 is illustrated as a single medium,the term “machine readable medium” may include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) configured to store the one or moreinstructions 224. The term “machine readable medium” may include anymedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructionsfor execution by the machine 200 and that cause the machine 200 toperform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, orthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used byor associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine readablemedium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical andmagnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include:non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g.,Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM andDVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media may includenon-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machinereadable media may include machine readable media that is not atransitory propagating signal.

The instructions 224 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 226 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 220 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols(e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission controlprotocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P)networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 220may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, orphone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communicationsnetwork 226. In an example, the network interface device 220 may includea plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one ofsingle-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In someexamples, the network interface device 220 may wirelessly communicateusing Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term “transmission medium”shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine200, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

FIG. 3 illustrates a station (STA) in accordance with some embodimentsand an access point (AP) in accordance with some embodiments. It shouldbe noted that in some embodiments, an STA or other mobile device mayinclude some or all of the components shown in either FIG. 2 or FIG. 3(as in 300) or both. The STA 300 may be suitable for use as an STA 103as depicted in FIG. 1, in some embodiments. It should also be noted thatin some embodiments, an AP or other base station may include some or allof the components shown in either FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 (as in 350) or both.The AP 350 may be suitable for use as an AP 102 as depicted in FIG. 1,in some embodiments.

The STA 300 may include physical layer circuitry 302 and a transceiver305, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception ofsignals to and from components such as the AP 102 (FIG. 1), other STAsor other devices using one or more antennas 301. As an example, thephysical layer circuitry 302 may perform various encoding and decodingfunctions that may include formation of baseband signals fortransmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, thetransceiver 305 may perform various transmission and reception functionssuch as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a RadioFrequency (RF) range. Accordingly, the physical layer circuitry 302 andthe transceiver 305 may be separate components or may be part of acombined component. In addition, some of the described functionalityrelated to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by acombination that may include one, any or all of the physical layercircuitry 302, the transceiver 305, and other components or layers. TheSTA 300 may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry 304for controlling access to the wireless medium. The STA 300 may alsoinclude processing circuitry 306 and memory 308 arranged to perform theoperations described herein.

The AP 350 may include physical layer circuitry 352 and a transceiver355, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception ofsignals to and from components such as the STA 103 (FIG. 1), other APsor other devices using one or more antennas 351. As an example, thephysical layer circuitry 352 may perform various encoding and decodingfunctions that may include formation of baseband signals fortransmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, thetransceiver 355 may perform various transmission and reception functionssuch as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a RadioFrequency (RF) range. Accordingly, the physical layer circuitry 352 andthe transceiver 355 may be separate components or may be part of acombined component. In addition, some of the described functionalityrelated to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by acombination that may include one, any or all of the physical layercircuitry 352, the transceiver 355, and other components or layers. TheAP 350 may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry 354for controlling access to the wireless medium. The AP 350 may alsoinclude processing circuitry 356 and memory 358 arranged to perform theoperations described herein.

The antennas 301, 351, 230 may comprise one or more directional oromnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas,monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas orother types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In somemultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 301,351, 230 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatialdiversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

In some embodiments, the STA 300 may be configured as an HEW device 104(FIG. 1), and may communicate using OFDM and/or OFDMA communicationsignals over a multicarrier communication channel. In some embodiments,the AP 350 may be configured to communicate using OFDM and/or OFDMAcommunication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. In someembodiments, the HEW device 104 may be configured to communicate usingOFDM communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel.Accordingly, in some cases, the STA 300, AP 350 and/or HEW device 104may be configured to receive signals in accordance with specificcommunication standards, such as the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including IEEE 802.11-2012,802.11n-2009 and/or 802.11ac-2013 standards and/or proposedspecifications for WLANs including proposed HEW standards, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as they may alsobe suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance withother techniques and standards. In some other embodiments, the AP 350,HEW device 104 and/or the STA 300 configured as an HEW device 104 may beconfigured to receive signals that were transmitted using one or moreother modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g.,direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequencyhopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-divisionmultiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing(FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limitedin this respect. Embodiments disclosed herein provide two preambleformats for High Efficiency (HE) Wireless LAN standards specificationthat is under development in the IEEE Task Group 11ax (TGax).

In some embodiments, the STA 300 and/or AP 350 may be a mobile deviceand may be a portable wireless communication device, such as a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wirelesscommunication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, asmartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, adigital camera, an access point, a television, a wearable device such asa medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor,etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit informationwirelessly. In some embodiments, the STA 300 and/or AP 350 may beconfigured to operate in accordance with 802.11 standards, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Mobile devicesor other devices in some embodiments may be configured to operateaccording to other protocols or standards, including other IEEEstandards, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards orother standards. In some embodiments, the STA 300 and/or AP 350 mayinclude one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memoryport, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor,speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCDscreen including a touch screen.

Although the STA 300 and the AP 350 are each illustrated as havingseveral separate functional elements, one or more of the functionalelements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations ofsoftware-configured elements, such as processing elements includingdigital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. Forexample, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on oneor more processing elements.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware,firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented asinstructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may beread and executed by at least one processor to perform the operationsdescribed herein. A computer-readable storage device may include anynon-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by amachine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storagedevice may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memorydevices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments mayinclude one or more processors and may be configured with instructionsstored on a computer-readable storage device.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus used by theSTA 300 may include various components of the STA 300 as shown in FIG. 3and/or the example machine 200 as shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly,techniques and operations described herein that refer to the STA 300 (or103) may be applicable to an apparatus for an STA, in some embodiments.It should also be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus used bythe AP 350 may include various components of the AP 350 as shown in FIG.3 and/or the example machine 200 as shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly,techniques and operations described herein that refer to the AP 350 (or102) may be applicable to an apparatus for an AP, in some embodiments.In addition, an apparatus for a mobile device and/or base station mayinclude one or more components shown in FIGS. 2-3, in some embodiments.Accordingly, techniques and operations described herein that refer to amobile device and/or base station may be applicable to an apparatus fora mobile device and/or base station, in some embodiments.

In accordance with some embodiments, the AP 102 may transmit a triggerframe (TF) to an STA 103 that indicates an access class (AC) constraintparameter and a traffic identifier (TID) aggregation limit parameter.The STA 103 may select a group of aggregate TIDs from which mediumaccess control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) may be aggregated intoan aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU). The AC constraint parameter may indicate arecommended AC (and/or preferred AC) from which at least a portion ofthe aggregate TIDs are to be selected. The TID aggregation limitparameter may indicate a number of TIDs to be selected for the group ofaggregate TIDs. The STA 103 may aggregate MPDUs from the aggregate TIDsinto an A-MPDU, and may transmit the A-MPDU to the AP 102. Theseembodiments will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of a method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments. It is important to note thatembodiments of the method 400 may include additional or even feweroperations or processes in comparison to what is illustrated in FIG. 4.In addition, embodiments of the method 400 are not necessarily limitedto the chronological order that is shown in FIG. 4. In describing themethod 400, reference may be made to FIGS. 1-3 and 5-13, although it isunderstood that the method 400 may be practiced with any other suitablesystems, interfaces and components.

In some embodiments, the STA 103 may be configurable to operate as anHEW device 104. Although reference may be made to an STA 103 herein,including as part of the descriptions of the method 400 and/or othermethods described herein, it is understood that an HEW device 104 and/orSTA 103 configurable to operate as an HEW device 104 may be used in someembodiments. In addition, the method 400 and other methods describedherein may refer to STAs 103, HEW devices 104 and/or APs 102 operatingin accordance with one or more standards and/or protocols, such as802.11, Wi-Fi, wireless local area network (W-LAN) and/or other, butembodiments of those methods are not limited to just those devices. Insome embodiments, the method 400 and other methods described herein maybe practiced by other mobile devices, such as an Evolved Node-B (eNB) orUser Equipment (UE). The method 400 and other methods described hereinmay also be practiced by wireless devices configured to operate in othersuitable types of wireless communication systems, including systemsconfigured to operate according to various Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards. The method 400 mayalso be applicable to an apparatus for an STA 103, HEW device 104 and/orAP 102 or other device described above, in some embodiments.

It should also be noted that embodiments are not limited by referencesherein (such as in descriptions of the methods 400, 1300 and/or otherdescriptions herein) to transmission, reception and/or exchanging ofelements such as frames, messages, requests, indicators, signals orother elements. In some embodiments, such an element may be generated,encoded or otherwise processed by processing circuitry (such as by abaseband processor included in the processing circuitry) fortransmission. The transmission may be performed by a transceiver orother component, in some cases. In some embodiments, such an element maybe decoded, detected or otherwise processed by the processing circuitry(such as by the baseband processor). The element may be received by atransceiver or other component, in some cases. In some embodiments, theprocessing circuitry and the transceiver may be included in a sameapparatus. The scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect,however, as the transceiver may be separate from the apparatus thatcomprises the processing circuitry, in some embodiments.

At operation 405 of the method 400, the STA 103 may buffer one or moremedium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs). In someembodiments, the MPDUs may be mapped to a group of traffic identifiers(TIDs) based on traffic types of the MPDUs. As an example, the MPDUs maybe mapped to a group of TIDs that are included in a Quality of Service(QoS) arrangement. In some cases, the TIDs may be related to traffictypes of the MPDUs, prioritization of the traffic types and/or otheraspects of the QoS arrangement.

In some embodiments, the group of TIDs to which the MPDUs are mapped maybe a group of active TIDs (for which buffered traffic is buffered at theSTA 103). The group of TIDs to which the MPDUs are mapped may be a groupof candidate TIDs, in some embodiments, such as TIDs that are candidatesfor the aggregation to be described below. In some embodiments, thegroup of TIDs to which the MPDUs are mapped may be a master group ofTIDs, such as a group of possible TIDs of a QoS prioritization and/orstandard. Accordingly, it is understood that references to one of thosegroups (a group of TIDs, a group of candidate TIDs, a master group ofTIDs) are not limiting. In some embodiments, an operation, method and/ortechnique described using one of those groups may also be applicable toan embodiment that uses one of the other groups.

In some embodiments, the TIDs of the group may be mapped to a group ofaccess classes (ACs) of a quality of service (QoS) prioritization.Examples of ACs may include, but are not limited to, a voice AC, a videoAC, a best effort AC, and a background AC. As a non-limiting example,the group of ACs may include a voice AC of a highest QoS priority, avideo AC of a second highest QoS priority, a best effort AC of a thirdhighest QoS priority, and a background AC of a lowest QoS priority.

FIG. 5 illustrates examples of access classes (ACs) and traffic types inaccordance with some embodiments. It should be noted that the examplesshown in FIG. 5 may illustrate some or all of the concepts andtechniques described herein in some cases, but embodiments are notlimited by the examples. For instance, embodiments are not limited bythe name, number, type, size, ordering, arrangement, prioritization,mapping and/or other aspects of the ACs, traffic types, TIDs and otherelements as shown in FIGS. 5. Although some of the elements shown in theexample of FIG. 5 may be included in an 802.11 standard and/or otherstandard, embodiments are not limited to usage of such elements that areincluded in standards.

In some embodiments, the example arrangement 500 may be part of a QoSprioritization and/or QoS arrangement, although the scope of embodimentsis not limited in this respect. As indicated by row 503, different ACsmay include a voice AC 510, video AC 520, best effort AC 530, andbackground AC 540. In addition, those ACs may be labeled as AC_VO,AC_VI, AC_BE, and AC_BK, respectively, as part of an 802.11 standardand/or other standard, in some cases. Example priorities of the ACs510-540 are indicated by row 505. In this example 500, the voice AC,video AC, best effort AC, and background AC may be prioritized fromhighest to lowest, respectively.

In some embodiments, one or more TIDs may be mapped to the ACs.Accordingly, each AC may include and/or support one or more TIDs, insome cases. In the example arrangement 500, as indicated by row 507, twoTIDs may be mapped to each AC. For instance, the TIDs labeled as TID-7and TID-6 may be mapped to the voice AC 510, the TIDs labeled as TID-5and TID-4 may be mapped to the video AC 520, the TIDs labeled as TID-3and TID-2 may be mapped to the best effort AC 530, and the TIDs labeledas TID-1 and TID-0 may be mapped to the background AC 540. It should benoted that embodiments are not limited to those labels and are also notlimited to mapping of two TIDs to each AC. In some embodiments, unequalnumbers of TIDs may be mapped to each AC. In some embodiments, anysuitable number of TIDs (such as one, two, three or more) may be mappedto any of the TIDs.

At operation 410 of the method 400, the STA 103 may receive a triggerframe (TF) from the AP 102. In some embodiments, the TF may indicatethat the STA 103 is to perform uplink data transmissions and may includerelated control information. In some cases, the TF may initiate theuplink data transmissions. In some embodiments, the TF may includeinformation related to aggregation of packets by the STA 103, such as anAC constraint parameter (to be described below), a TID aggregation limitparameter (to be described below) and/or other parameters. The TIDaggregation limit parameter and the AC constraint parameter may beincluded in a common information field of the TF, in some cases,although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. As anexample of a packet aggregation technique, MPDUs may be aggregated intoan aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

In some embodiments, the TID aggregation limit parameter and the ACconstraint parameter may be included in a group of implicit constructionparameters. The group of aggregate TIDs may be selected in accordancewith an implicit construction based on the implicit constructionparameters. Accordingly, the AP 102 may refrain from indicatingexplicitly, to the STA 103, information such as which TIDs are to beincluded in the group of aggregate TIDs, which MPDUs are to beaggregated and/or other information. In some embodiments, the STA 103and the AP 102 may exchange one or more messages for negotiation of oneor more parameters, including but not limited to the TID aggregationlimit, AC constraint parameter, preferred AC parameter, the quality ofservice (QoS) prioritization of the ACs and/or others.

It should be noted that the TF may be a uni-cast TF, a multi-cast TFand/or other type of TF. As an example, the TF may be configurable toindicate to any number of STAs 103 (such as one or more) that uplinkdata transmission(s) are to be performed. As another example, the TF maybe a uni-cast TF that may be transmitted to an STA 103 to indicate thatSTA 103 is to perform one or more uplink transmissions. In some cases,the STA 103 may perform the one or more uplink transmissions inaccordance with control information included in the uni-cast TF.

As another example, the TF may be a muti-cast TF that may be transmittedto a group of STAs 103 to indicate that one or more of the STAs 103 areto perform one or more uplink transmissions. In some cases, the STA 103may perform the one or more uplink transmissions in accordance withcontrol information included in the multi-cast TF. The controlinformation may include control information for each STA 103 in somecases, such as a per user information block, although embodiments arenot limited as such.

In some cases, the TF (uni-cast, multi-cast and/or other type of TF) mayalso include common control information which may not necessarily bededicated to any particular STA 103. In addition, uplink datatransmissions may be performed, in some cases, in accordance with suchcommon control information and/or dedicated control information (such asper STA 103 control information). Examples of common control informationmay include configuration information, system information and/or otherinformation that may not necessarily be specific to the intended uplinkdata transmission indicated by the TFs.

FIG. 6 illustrates example frames and packets that may be exchanged inaccordance with some embodiments. FIG. 7 illustrates example controlfields in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 14 illustratesadditional examples of TFs and additional examples of control fields inaccordance with some embodiments. It should be noted that the examplesshown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 14 may illustrate some or all of the conceptsand techniques described herein in some cases, but embodiments are notlimited by the examples. For instance, embodiments are not limited bythe name, number, type, size, ordering, arrangement and/or other aspectsof the frames, signals, data blocks, control headers and other elementsas shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 14. In addition, embodiments are also notlimited to the number of STAs 103 used in any of the examples shown inFIGS. 6, 7, and 14. Although some of the elements shown in the examplesof FIGS. 6, 7, and 14 may be included in an 802.11 standard and/or otherstandard, embodiments are not limited to usage of such elements that areincluded in standards.

In the example scenario 600, two STAs 620 and 621 are shown, but it isunderstood that embodiments may be extended to include more than the twoSTAs 620, 621. Some embodiments may include a single STA, such as 620.The AP 610 may transmit the TF 630 to initiate and/or trigger ULtransmissions by one or more of the STAs 620, 621 It should be notedthat the TF 630 may be or may include a uni-cast TF transmitted to oneSTA (such as 620), in some cases. Embodiments are not limited as such,however, as the TF may be or may include a multi-cast TF and/orbroadcast TF, in some cases, which may be transmitted to multiple STAs.

Referring to FIG. 7, the example TF 700 may include trigger dependentcommon information 710 (such as a common information field), which mayinclude the AC constraint parameter 720 and the TID aggregation limitparameter 725. It should be noted that a preferred AC parameter 720 maybe used in some embodiments. In addition, references herein to eitherthe AC constraint parameter 720 or the preferred AC parameter 720 arenot limiting. Accordingly, an operation, method, technique, frame and/orother element may be described in terms of one of those parameters, butit is understood that the other of those parameters may also be used insome cases. As an example, in some descriptions herein, an operation,method, technique, frame and/or other element may include or may use anAC constraint parameter. It is understood, however, that the preferredAC parameter may be used in the operation, method, technique, frameand/or other element, in some cases.

In addition, references herein to either a recommended AC or a preferredAC are not limiting. Accordingly, an operation, method, technique, frameand/or other element may be described in terms of one of thoseparameters, but it is understood that the other of those parameters mayalso be used in some cases. As an example, in some descriptions herein,an operation, method, technique, frame and/or other element may includeor may use a recommended AC. It is understood, however, that a preferredAC may be used in the operation, method, technique, frame and/or otherelement, in some cases.

The trigger dependent common information 710 may include any number(including zero) of other parameters or information that may or may notbe related to MPDU aggregation. It should also be noted that the exampleTF 700 may include various fields as shown in FIG. 7, such as length,cascade indication, HE Sig-A information, CP and LTF type, trigger typeand/or others. However, it is understood that, in some embodiments, theTF 700 and/or the trigger-dependent common information 710 may notnecessarily include all of the fields shown in FIG. 7 and may eveninclude additional fields.

Referring to FIG. 14, the example TF 1400 may include type dependentcommon information 1410, which may include the AC preference levelparameter 1420 and/or the preferred AC parameter 1425. In addition,other parameters or information may be possible in some embodiments, asindicated by the “reserved” field 1430. For instance, any number(including zero) of other parameters or information that may or may notbe related to MPDU aggregation may be used, in some cases.

In some embodiments, if a TF is of a type “Basic,” the type dependentcommon information 1410 may include the AC preference level parameter1420 and/or the preferred AC parameter 1425. The AC preference levelparameter 1420 may indicate that the TIDs of corresponding signaled ACin the preferred AC parameter 1425 should be preferred over other TIDswhen MPDUs are aggregated within the multi-TIF A-MPDU. The preferred ACparameter 1425 may indicate a value of AC recommended (and/or preferred)by the AP 102 from which MPDUs are to be aggregated primarily within amulti-TID A-MPDU. As a non-limiting example, values of 00, 01, 10, and11 may indicate AC_VO, AC_VI, AC_BE, and AC_BK, respectively. It isunderstood that the mapping of values is not limiting. It is alsounderstood that the preferred AC parameter may be mapped to a differentset of cases, in some embodiments.

The example TF 1450 may include type dependent per user information1460, which may include the AC preference level parameter 1470, thepreferred AC parameter 1475, MPDU MU spacing factor 1485 and/or TIDaggregation limit 1480. In addition, other parameters or information maybe possible in some embodiments, such as any number (including zero) ofother parameters or information that may or may not be related to MPDUaggregation may be used.

In some embodiments, if a TF is of a type “Basic,” the type dependentper user information 1460 may include the AC preference level parameter1470, the preferred AC parameter 1475, MPDU MU spacing factor 1485 andthe TID aggregation limit 1480. The AC preference level parameter 1470may indicate that the TIDs of corresponding signaled AC in the preferredAC parameter 1475 should be preferred over other TIDs when MPDUs areaggregated within the multi-TIF A-MPDU. The preferred AC parameter 1475may indicate a value of AC recommended (and/or preferred) by the AP 102from which MPDUs are to be aggregated primarily within a multi-TIDA-MPDU. As a non-limiting example, values of 00, 01, 10, and 11 mayindicate AC_VO, AC_VI, AC_BE, and AC_BK, respectively. It is understoodthat the mapping of values is not limiting. It is also understood thatthe preferred AC parameter may be mapped to a different set of cases, insome embodiments.

An example implementation is presented below. It is understood thatoperations, guidelines, rules and/or other elements described for theexample implementation may not necessarily be included in otherimplementations. In addition, similar or alternate operations,guidelines, rules and/or other elements may be used in otherimplementations. For instance, an operation may be described asmandatory (such as through the use of the word “shall”) in the exampleimplementation, but other implementations may include the operation as anon-mandatory operation and/or optional operation. In addition, anoperation may be described as non-mandatory and/or optional (such asthrough the use of the word “should”) in the example implementation, butother implementations may include the operation as a mandatoryoperation.

In some cases of the example implementation, the AP 102 may specify avalue of an AC in the preferred AC parameter (such as 1425 or 1475) andmay specify a value of “1” in the AC preference level parameter (such as1420 or 1470) in the type dependent common information 410/typedependent per user information 460 of a basic variant TF (such as 1400or 1450 or other). The STA 103 should or may aggregate one or multipleMPDUs from any one of the TIDs from the corresponding signaled AC whenthe STA 103 has buffered traffic in this AC. When the STA 103 does nothave buffered traffic in the indicted AC, the STA 103 may aggregateMPDUs from any AC/TID or combination of TIDs. The STA 103 may aggregateMPDUs from TIDs in other ACs within the remaining time to the UL PPDUduration value indicated in the Length field of the TF. In this exampleimplementation, the total number of TIDs from which QoS data MPDUs areaggregated by the STA 103 shall not exceed the limit indicated in theTID aggregation limit sub-field of its per user information field in theTF.

In some cases of the example implementation, the AP 102 may specify avalue of “0” in the AC preference level parameter (such as 1420 or 1470)in the type dependent common information 410/type dependent per userinformation 460 of a basic variant TF (such as 1400 or 1450 or other).The STA 103 should or may aggregate one or multiple MPDUs from anyAC/TID or combination of TIDs, up to the limit indicated in the TEDaggregation limit 1480 in the type dependent per user information 460 ofthe TF 1450.

It should also be noted that the example TFs 700, 1400, 1450 may includevarious fields as shown in FIGS. 7 and 14, such as length, cascadeindication, HE Sig-A information, CP and LTF type, trigger type and/orothers. However, it is understood that, in some embodiments, the TFs700, 1400, 1450 may not necessarily include all of the fields shown inFIG. 7 or 14 and may even include additional fields in some cases.

Returning to the method 400, at operation 415, the STA 103 may select agroup of aggregate TIDs to be used as part of an aggregation of datapackets. At operation 420, the STA 103 may generate an A-MPDU thatincludes MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs. In some embodiments, MPDUs of thegroup of aggregate TIDs (multiple TIDs) may be aggregated into theA-MPDU, as will be described below. At operation 425, the STA 103 maytransmit the A-MPDU to the AP 102. The STA 103 may receive an immediateBA message from the AP 102 at operation 430. The STA 103 may receive adelayed BA message from the AP 102 at operation 435. As will bedescribed below, the delayed BA message may not necessarily betransmitted by the AP 102 in some cases, and therefore some embodimentsof the method 400 may not necessarily include operation 435.

The group of aggregate TIDs may be selected in accordance with one ormore parameters that may be included in the TF, such as the ACconstraint parameter, the TID aggregation limit parameter and/or otherparameters (such as system parameters and/or default parameters).Non-limiting examples of such selection techniques will be describedbelow.

In some embodiments, the group of aggregate TIDs may be selected from agroup of TIDs that are active at the STA 103. Embodiments are notlimited to active TIDs, however. As an example, the group of aggregateTIDs may be selected from a group of TIDs that are supported by the STA103 (but not necessarily active). As another example, the group ofaggregate TIDs may be selected from a group of TIDs that are included ina Quality of Service (QoS) arrangement.

In some embodiments, a number of aggregate TIDs selected may be based onthe TID aggregation limit parameter. As a non-limiting example, the TIDaggregation limit parameter may indicate a threshold of a number ofaggregate TIDs for which MPDUs of the A-MPDU would be acknowledged bythe AP 102 as part of an immediate acknowledgement. In some embodiments,the number of aggregate TIDs selected may not necessarily be restrictedto values that are less than or equal to the threshold. However, thenumber of TIDs selected may affect whether the MPDUs are acknowledged,by the AP 102, with an immediate acknowledgement or with a combinationof immediate acknowledgement and a delayed acknowledgement.

For instance, when the number of aggregate TIDs selected is less than orequal to the threshold, the MPDUs of those aggregate TIDs may beacknowledged by the immediate acknowledgement. Referring to FIG. 6, theA-MPDU 640 may be transmitted by the STA 620. The immediate BA message650 may be transmitted by the AP 102 to the STA 103, and may includereception indicators for the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs. In such cases,the delayed BA message 655 may not be transmitted. In some embodiments,the reception indicators for the MPDUs may indicate whether the MPDUshave been successfully decoded by the AP 102.

However, when the number of aggregate TIDs selected is greater than thethreshold, the MPDUs of a first portion of the group of aggregate TIDsmay be acknowledged by the immediate acknowledgement and the MPDUs of asecond portion of the group of aggregate TIDs may be acknowledged by oneor more delayed acknowledgements. As a non-limiting example, a number ofaggregate TIDs in the first portion may be equal to the threshold. Anumber of aggregate TIDs in the second portion may be equal to adifference between the number of aggregate TIDs and the threshold.Referring to FIG. 6, the immediate BA message 650 may be transmitted bythe AP 102 to the STA 103, and may include reception indicators for theMPDUs of the first portion of the aggregate TIDs. The delayed BA message655 may be transmitted by the AP 102 to the STA 103, and may includereception indicators for the MPDUs of the second portion of theaggregate TIDs. The delayed BA message 655 may be transmitted after theimmediate BA message 650 in accordance with a delay that may or may notbe predetermined. For instance, a next available time slot/window afterthe immediate BA message 650 may be used for the delayed BA message 655,in some cases. In some embodiments, the reception indicators for theMPDUs may indicate whether the MPDUs have been successfully decoded bythe AP 102.

In some embodiments, when the number of aggregate TIDs is less than orequal to the threshold, the STA 103 may receive an immediate BA messagefrom the AP 102 that includes reception indicators for MPDUs of theaggregate TIDs. When the number of aggregate TIDs is greater than thethreshold, the STA 103 may receive an immediate BA message from the AP102 and may receive a delayed BA message from the AP 102. The immediateBA message may include reception indicators for MPDUs of a first portionof the aggregate TIDs. A number of aggregate TIDs of the first portionmay be equal to the threshold, in some cases. The delayed BA message mayinclude reception indicators for MPDUs of a second portion of theaggregate TIDs. A number of aggregate TIDs of the second portion may beequal to a number of aggregate TIDs minus the threshold, in some cases.

It should be noted that the immediate BA 650 and/or delayed BA 655 mayinclude one or more reception indicators for MPDUs included in theA-MPDU 640 transmitted to the AP 610 by the STA 620. In some cases, theBA messages 650, 655 may also include reception indicators for MPDUs notnecessarily included in the A-MPDU 640, in some cases. For instance,MPDUs from previous A-MPDUs and/or MPDUs not necessarily transmitted inan A-MPDU may be acknowledged by messages such as 650, 655, in someembodiments.

It should also be noted that in some embodiments, the TF may includemultiple TID aggregation limit parameters. For instance, a first TIDaggregation limit parameter may indicate a number of TIDs that may beselected for immediate acknowledgement and a second aggregation limitparameter may indicate a number of TIDs that may be selected for delayedacknowledgement.

In some embodiments, a number of aggregate TIDs selected and/or a numberof ACs from which TIDs are to selected may be based on an AC aggregationlimit parameter. As a non-limiting example, the AC aggregation limitparameter may indicate a threshold of a number of ACs for which MPDUs ofthe A-MPDU would be acknowledged by the AP 102 as part of an immediateacknowledgement. In some embodiments, the AC aggregation limit parametermay be included in the TF instead of the TID aggregation limitparameter. The scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect,however, as the TF may include AC aggregation limit parameter may beincluded instead of the TID aggregation limit parameter, in someembodiments.

In some embodiments, the TID aggregation limit may refer to a number ofdata TIDs and/or management TIDs. The management TIDs may notnecessarily be mapped to an AC.

It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to usage of a TFthat includes the TID aggregation limit parameter and/or AC constraintparameter for an immediate data transmission. In some embodiments, theTID aggregation limit parameter and/or AC constraint parameter indicatedin a TF may refer to more than just an immediate data transmission. Asan example, aggregation to be used in multiple future uplinktransmissions may be indicated by the TF. Embodiments are also notlimited to inclusion of these parameters in the TF, as other techniques,such as dedicated control messages, dedicated management messages and/orothers, may be used in some embodiments.

Returning to the selection of the aggregate TIDs at operation 415,non-limiting examples of techniques that may be used for the selectionin accordance with the TID aggregation limit parameter and/or ACconstraint parameter will be given below. However, it is understood thatthe selection may be performed using other suitable techniques, some ofwhich may also use the TID aggregation limit parameter and/or ACconstraint parameter.

In some embodiments, the selection of the aggregate TIDs may be based onthe AC constraint parameter. It should be noted that in someembodiments, the selection of the aggregate TIDs may be based on the ACconstraint parameter and on the TID aggregation limit parameter. Inaddition, other parameters may be used, in addition to the AC constraintparameter and the TID aggregation limit parameter, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the AC constraint parameter may indicate arecommended AC (and/or preferred AC) of the group from which at least aportion of the aggregate TIDs are to be selected. As a non-limitingexample, the TIDs that are mapped to the recommended AC may be selectedto the group of aggregate TIDs. Depending on the number of TIDs mappedto the recommended AC and the TID aggregation limit parameter,additional TIDs may be selected to the group of aggregate TIDs. Althoughembodiments are not limited as such, the STA 103 may select theadditional TIDs from ACs of lower QoS priority than the AC class, insome cases. Accordingly, descending QoS priority may be used for theselection of the additional TIDs, in some cases. For instance, one ormore TIDs from a next AC (such as the AC of next highest QoS priority)may be selected.

As an example, when two TIDs are mapped to the recommended AC and theTID aggregation limit parameter is three, the STA 103 may select onemore TID from the AC of next highest QoS priority. As another example,when two TIDs are mapped to each AC and the TID aggregation limitparameter is five, the STA 103 may select the two TIDs from therecommended AC, the two TIDs from the AC of QoS priority one level belowthat of the recommended AC, and one more TID from the AC of QoS prioritytwo levels below that of the recommended AC.

As another example, when no TIDs are active and/or supported by the STA103 for a recommended AC, the STA 103 may select TIDs from ACs of QoSpriority less than the recommended AC.

In some embodiments, the AC constraint parameter may also indicate thatthe selection of the aggregate TIDs is unrestricted by a recommended AC.Accordingly, the STA 103 may select any TIDs of any AC, in such cases.

In some embodiments, the AC constraint parameter may be configurable toindicate the recommended AC. In some embodiments, the AC constraintparameter may be further configurable to indicate that the selection ofthe aggregate TIDs is unrestricted by a recommended AC. As anon-limiting example, a first value of the AC constraint parameter mayindicate that the recommended AC is the voice AC, a second value of theAC constraint parameter may indicate that the recommended AC is thevideo AC, a third value of the AC constraint parameter may indicate thatthe recommended AC is the best effort AC, and a fourth value of the ACconstraint parameter may indicate that the selection of the aggregateTIDs is unrestricted by a recommended AC. It should be noted that thisexample may be extended to include additional values for the ACparameter. The additional values may indicate other recommended ACsand/or other information related to ACs/QoS and/or selection of theaggregate TIDs. In addition, embodiments are not limited to the fourpieces of information indicated by the four values of the AC constraintparameter in the example.

As another non-limiting example, the AC constraint parameter may includetwo bits. A value of 00 may indicate that the recommended AC is thevoice AC, a value of 01 may indicate that the recommended AC is thevideo AC, and a value of 10 may indicate that the recommended AC is thebest effort AC. In some cases, a value of 11 may indicate that theselection of the aggregate TIDs is unrestricted by a recommended AC. Inother cases, a value of 11 may indicate that the recommended AC is thebackground AC. It should be noted that this example mapping for valuesof the AC constraint parameter is not limiting. It should also be notedthat embodiments are not limited to usage of two bits for the ACconstraint parameter, as any suitable number of bits may be used.

Accordingly, the AC constraint parameter may indicate variousinformation related to the ACs and/or QoS that may be used by the STA103 for selection of the group of aggregate TIDs. In some embodiments,the information indicated by the AC constraint parameter may include anyor all of the previously described pieces of information, such as arecommended AC or an indication that the selection of the aggregate TIDsis unrestricted by a recommended AC. Embodiments are not limited to thisinformation, however. In some embodiments, other information related tothe ACs, QoS and/or the selection of the group of aggregate TIDs may beindicated by the AC constraint parameter, in addition to or instead of,one or more of the pieces of information previously described for the ACconstraint parameter.

In some embodiments, a TID priority may be based on an AC priority. TheAC priority may be pre-defined or may be indicated dynamically by theTF. In some cases, such as when a single AC is indicated, the indicatedAC may be at a highest priority and all other ACs may be of equal orlower priority. In some cases, an AC may divided into priority groups inwhich a priority group may include more than one AC.

In some embodiments, an explicit construction policy may be used, inwhich the STA 103 may receive restrictions from the AP 102 related toaspects such as resource allocation, PPDU construction, a number of TIDsto be aggregated in a PSDU, a number of TIDs aggregated that would beimmediately acknowledged, a TID construction policy and/or others. Insome embodiments, an implicit construction policy may be used, in whichthe AP 102 may allocate resources based on a construction restrictionsset (which may be reflected at the AP 102) and may signal to the STA 103(per allocation and/or as a general policy) one or more constructionrestrictions used in generating the resource allocations. The STA 103may use this information to construct the PPDU, in some cases.

In some embodiments, synchronization between UL and DL PPDU constructionmay enable aggregation of multiple MPDUs from multiple TIDs that mayconsider and/or may be based on factors such as quality of service(QoS), buffer status and other factors of multi-user (MU) connectivity.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, the STA 103 may receive acoordinated transmission allocation for a coordinated entity (such asthe AP 102). However, the PPDU construction may also be relevant tocases in which a receiver may need to be synchronized with a transmitterfor PPDU construction. It should be noted that in some cases in whichimplicit construction is used, the STAs 103 may be responsible for theUL QoS by UL PPDU construction.

In some embodiments, an implicit construction may be used in which theSTA 103 may signal a set of “construction restrictions” and may benotified of“construction restrictions” to be used by the STA 103 toconstruct a PPDU based on resource allocation. In some cases, this mayassist the AP 102 to adapt and/or optimize a specific STA 103 resourceallocation to the STA 103 PPDU construction method. In some embodiments,the signaling may be specific to an STA 103 and/or common for a group ofSTAs 103. In some embodiments, the signaling may refer to a specificallocation and/or long term multiple allocations. In some embodiments, aresource allocation entity may instruct, indicate and/or recommend tothe STA 103 how to construct a specific and/or a long term UL PPDU (sentfrom and/or to a specific STA 103 and/or group of STAs 103).

In some embodiments, the STA 103 may signal and/or negotiate a set of DLPPDU construction limits and rules with the AP 102 and/or other STA 103for construction of a PPDU (for example, for DL transmission). Theresource allocation entity (such as the AP 102) may consider (implicit)and/or enforce them (explicit) when a DL PPDU is constructed.

In some embodiments, a suggested construction policy may be signaled bya group of one or more Construction Synchronization Parameters (CSP)and/or Construction Synchronization Restrictions (CSR). The CSP and/orCSR may include limitations, priorities and/or guidance, in someembodiments. Examples of such may include, but are not limited to linklevel aspects (such as durations of PPDUs, TXOPs and/or other), datarates, bandwidths and/or other. The examples may further include, butare not limited to, aggregation parameters, such as a number of MSUU, anumber of MSUUs per MPDU/AMSDU, a number of MPUUs, a number of MPUUs perPPDU/AMPDU, a number of TIDs, a number of immediately actable TIDsand/or others. The examples may further include, but are not limited to,QoS parameters, such as TID level restrictions (grant, duration,bandwidth and/or others), AC restrictions (grant, duration, bandwidthand/or others), MPDU type restrictions (MSDU type, such as data,management, control and/or other type). These example parameters are notlimiting. In some embodiments, one or more other parameters may also beincluded. In some embodiments, one or more of the example parametersgiven above may be used. In some embodiments, one or more of the exampleparameters given above and one or more additional parameters may beused.

In some embodiments, CSP/CSR priorities, limitations and/or constructionguidelines may include, but are not limited to, aggregation priorities,aggregation type priorities (single, dubbed, non), fragmentationpriority, amount of padding, acknowledgment priority, aggregationcontraction policy and/or QoS Priorities (such as TID level priorities,AC level priorities, PD type priorities and/or others).

In some embodiments, an aggregation contraction policy may include, butis not limited to, one or more of the following aggregation contractionpolicies. As an example, in an equal aggregation construction policy,each active TID/AC (TID/AC that has data to transmit) may receive equalresources. As another example, in a proportional construction policy,each active TID/AC (TID/AC that has data to transmit) may receiveproportional resources based on a pre-defined definition. As anotherexample, in a weighted round robin queue pulling (MSDU based or MPDUbased) contraction policy, resources may be allocated to active TIDs/ACsbased on pre-defined definition of weighted round robin selection of thequeues of the active TIDs. As another example, in accordance with anabsolute pre-defined priority, resources may be allocated to the highestpriority TID/AC until it is fully served. Resources may then beallocated to other TIDs/ACs based on a pre-defined TID/AC priority. Asanother example, in accordance with a first come first served priority,resources may be allocate based on an order of arrival of theMSDUs/MPDUs.

In some embodiments, the CSP/CSR may be indicated in a particular frameduring a particular time period. As an example, the CSP/CSR may beindicated during a beacon frame and/or other frame during a pre-definedperiod. As another example, the CSP/CSR may be indicated during acontrol frame and/or other frame during a specific TXOP period. Asanother example, the CSP/CSR may be indicated during a TF, control frameand/or other frame for a next PPDU transmission.

In some embodiments, the CSP/CSR may define a specific resourceallocation configuration based on one or more parameters, including butnot limited to a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), number of spatialstreams (NSS), bandwidth/RU set, transmit power, operation mode,transmission type, PHY mode and/or other parameters. In someembodiments, the CSP/CSR may define a specific acknowledgmentconfiguration/state, including but not limited to an acknowledgment mode(MU-STA, MU-TID, BA, ACK and/or other), an acknowledgment type (imitate,delayed and/or other) and/or other acknowledgment parameters. In someembodiments, in an association/TS establishment, a specific set ofCSP/CSR may be negotiated (by defining a value or an operating conditionof DL/UL MU transmission parameters) during association, modificationand/or other type of indication (such as a change in link condition). Insome embodiments, in an association/TS establishment, a specific set ofCSP/CSR may be advertised. For example, a beacon may be used.

In some embodiments, a method synchronized at the AP 102 side may beused. When an STA 103 buffer request exceeds the “available resources”and/or the STA 103 has request for more than a TID limit, the AP 102 mayassist the STA 103 in implicit construction or may guide the STA 103.The AP 102 may notify the STA 103 of a resource allocation policy to beused to create the STA 103 allocation. As an example, the allocation maybe done based on the flowing TIDs Priority. Allocation TID partitionguidelines may include a first option (Option A) in which the allocationis performed assuming that the STA 103 aggregates equal proportion ofMPDUs/MSDUs from each TID. Allocation TID partition guidelines mayinclude a second option (Option A) in which the allocation is performedassuming that the STA 103 aggregates weighted proportions of MPDUs/MSDUsfrom each TID.

In some embodiments, a method synchronized at the STA 103 side may beused. As an example, when the STA 103 has buffered MPDUs/MSDUs from anumber of TIDs that exceeds a restriction of the number of TIDs and/orwhen a number of buffered MPDUs/MSDUs exceeds an allocation size (forexample, a pre-defined UL PPDU duration), the STA 103 may implement oneof the following TID aggregation methodologies: equal TID aggregation,proportional TID aggregation, weighted round robin TID aggregation,priority-based TID aggregation, first come first serve TID aggregationand/or other aggregation techniques. These techniques will be describedbelow.

FIGS. 8-12 illustrate examples of aggregation of packets in accordancewith some embodiments. It should be noted that the examples shown inFIGS. 8-12 may illustrate some or all of the concepts and techniquesdescribed herein in some cases, but embodiments are not limited by theexamples. For instance, embodiments are not limited by the name, number,type, size, ordering, arrangement and/or other aspects of the ACs, TIDs,A-MPDUs, MPDUs, MSDUs, frames, signals, data blocks, control headers andother elements as shown in FIGS. 8-12. Although some of the elementsshown in the examples of FIGS. 8-12 may be included in an 802.11standard and/or other standard, embodiments are not limited to usage ofsuch elements that are included in standards.

It should be noted that the MPDUs in the examples of FIGS. 8-12 may belabeled in terms of an AC (such as VO, VI, BE or BK) and an index thatmay be a time index related to an order of arrival at a FIFO (thebuffers of the TIDs). Time indexes of 01-17 may be assigned to the MPDUsin the examples of FIGS. 8-12 based on order of arrival. For instance,the MPDU labelled as VO(07) may be a voice MPDU that arrives seventhchronologically, and the MPDU labelled as VI(05) may be a video MPDUthat arrives fifth chronologically.

Referring to FIG. 8, an example of an equal TID aggregation isillustrated. The TIDs 810, 820, 830, and 840 (which may be the group ofaggregate TIDs in this example) are mapped to voice, video, best effortand background ACs, respectively. As shown, MPDUs/MSDUs 812, 822, 832,842 are buffered for those TIDs. The A-MPDU 850 may include an equalnumber of MPDUs/MSDUs from the buffers 812, 822, 832, 842 in some cases.In the example shown, three MPDUs from 822, 832, and 842 are included inthe A-MPDU 850. Only two MPDUs are included from 812, as only two arebuffered. In a case in which three or more MPDUs were buffered in 812,three of those MPDUs may be included in the A-MPDU 850. It should benoted that embodiments are not limited to the inclusion of three MPDUs,as any suitable number of MPDUs per TID may be used in some cases. Inaddition, in this example, as only two MPDUs are available in the buffer812 and three MPDUs are included from 822, 832, and 842, it may bepossible that an extra MPDU from 822 is also included. For instance, tomake up for the fact that three MPDUs are to be selected from 812 butonly two MPDUs are available in the buffer 812, an extra MPDU fromanother buffer (such as 822) may be aggregated instead. Accordingly,four MPDUs from 822 may be used in some cases.

In some embodiments, the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs may be aggregatedinto the A-MPDU in accordance with a proportional TID aggregation inwhich numbers of MPDUs from the aggregate TIDs are based on a group ofpredetermined ratios for the aggregate TIDs. Referring to FIG. 9, theTIDs 910, 920, 930, and 940 (which may be the group of aggregate TIDs inthis example) are mapped to voice, video, best effort and backgroundACs, respectively. As shown, MPDUs/MSDUs 912, 922, 932, 942 are bufferedfor those TIDs. A proportional weighting of 8 voice, 4 video, 2 besteffort and 1 background may be used. Accordingly, a first portion of theA-MPDU 950 includes the 2 voice MPDUs VO(07) and VO(11) (which may be upto 8 if more than 2 are available). The first portion of the A-MPDU 950also includes 4 video MPDUs VI(05), VI(06), VI(12) and VI(16). The firstportion of the A-MPDU 950 also includes 2 best effort MPDUs BE(03) andBE(04). The first portion of the A-MPDU 950 also includes one backgroundMPDU BK(01). It should be noted that the MPDUs of the first portion areaggregated in accordance with the 8-4-2-1 ratio described above. It isunderstood that as many voice MPDUs up to 8 that are available (2 inthis case) are aggregated. Continuing the example, a second portion maybe aggregated in accordance with the 8-4-2-1 ratio. However, in thisexample, zero voice MPDUs and only one video MPDU VI(17) are available.Accordingly, the second portion includes VI(17), BE(09), and BE(10). TheA-MPDU 950 may be transmitted to the AP 102, in some cases. However, theA-MPDU 950 may be reordered to the A-MPDU 960, which includes the sameMPDUs of A-MPDU 950 reordered to include MPDUs of a same AC in sequence.The A-MPDU 960 may be transmitted to the AP 102, in some cases. Itshould be noted that embodiments are not limited to the weighting of8-4-2-1, as any suitable weighting may be used.

In some embodiments, the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs may be aggregatedinto the A-MPDU in accordance with a weighted round robin aggregation.Referring to FIG. 10, the TIDs 1010, 1020, 1030, and 1040 (which may bethe group of aggregate TIDs in this example) are mapped to voice, video,best effort and background ACs, respectively. As shown, MPDUs/MSDUs1012, 1022, 1032, 1042 are buffered for those TIDs. A weighting of 8voice, 4 video, 2 best effort and 1 background may be used. The A-MPDU1050 may be transmitted to the AP 102, in some cases. However, theA-MPDU 1050 may be reordered to the A-MPDU 1060, which includes the sameMPDUs of A-MPDU 1050 reordered to include MPDUs of a same AC insequence. The A-MPDU 1060 may be transmitted to the AP 102, in somecases.

In some embodiments, the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs may be aggregatedinto the A-MPDU in accordance with a priority based TID aggregation inwhich the aggregation may be performed sequentially with respect to theaggregate TIDs in accordance with descending QoS priorities of the ACsof the aggregate TIDs. Referring to FIG. 11, the TIDs 1110, 1120, 1130,and 1140 (which may be the group of aggregate TIDs in this example) aremapped to voice, video, best effort and background ACs, respectively. Asshown, MPDUs/MSDUs 1112, 1122, 1132, 1142 are buffered for those TIDs.The MPDUs 1112 of the first TID 1110 may be aggregated into the A-MPDU1150 until exhaustion of the first TID 1110. If the A-MPDU 1150 stillhas capacity to accept more MPDUs, the MPDUs 1122 of the second TID 1120may be aggregated until exhaustion of the second TID 1120. Thistechnique of aggregating MPDUs of descending AC priority may be extended(such as to the third TID 1130 and perhaps the fourth TID) until theA-MPDU 1150 no longer has capacity to accept more MPDUs or until thebuffered MPDUs of all the TIDs are aggregated into the A-MPDU 1150. TheA-MPDU 1150 may be transmitted to the AP 102, in some cases.

In some embodiments, the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs may be aggregatedinto the A-MPDU in accordance with a chronological aggregation based ontime indexes of the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs. For instance, a firstcome first serve technique in which the MPDUs are aggregated into theA-MPDU based on order of arrival into the FIFO queue (the buffers of theTIDs). Referring to FIG. 12, the TIDs 1210, 1220, 1230, and 1240 (whichmay be the group of aggregate TIDs in this example) are mapped to voice,video, best effort and background ACs, respectively. As shown,MPDUs/MSDUs 1212, 1222, 1232, 1242 are buffered for those TIDs. TheMPDUs of time indexes 01-12 may be aggregated into the A-MPDU 1250. TheA-MPDU 1250 may be transmitted to the AP 102, in some cases. However,the A-MPDU 1250 may be reordered to the A-MPDU 1260, which includes thesame MPDUs of A-MPDU 1250 reordered to include MPDUs of a same AC insequence. The A-MPDU 1260 may be transmitted to the AP 102, in somecases.

It should be noted that embodiments are not limited to the examples ofMPDU aggregation described herein, such as those of FIGS. 8-12 and/orothers. Other techniques may be used to aggregate MPDUs of TIDs of thegroup of aggregate TIDs, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the AC constraint sub-field of the TF may indicatethe value of AC recommended by the AP 102. Values in the range of 00 to10 may indicate a specific AC. A value of 11 may indicate any TID. Insome embodiments, the value in the TID aggregation limit sub-field mayindicate a number of TIDs from which MPDUs/MSDUs aggregated are to beimmediately acknowledged. As an example, implicit constructionrules/guidelines for aggregating multiple TIDs for STAs may be used. Forinstance, if the AP 102 specifies a value between 00-10 in the ACconstraint sub-field in the common information field of the TF: a) ifthe TID Aggregation Limit sub-field indicates 2 TIDs for theaggregation, the STA 103 aggregates MSDUs from TIDs specific to thesignaled AC, and b) if the TID Aggregation Limit sub-field indicatesmore than 2 TIDs for the aggregation, STA aggregates TIDs from thesignaled AC with highest priority along with other TIDs. If the APspecifies a value of 11 in the AC constraint sub-field in the commoninformation field of the TF, the STA 103 may aggregate any TID orcombination of TIDs.

In some embodiments, the signaling of multi-TID aggregation information(such as a policy) may be performed using the HE Control field.Referring to FIG. 7, an example of a common info field 750 for Multi-TIDAggregation Recommendation that may be sent by the AP 102 to multipleSTAs 103 is shown. As an example, the control ID sub-field 760 mayindicate TID priority recommendation per STA. Values of 000 to 110 mayindicate ACs in order or priority. The value 111 may be reserved forlowest priority TID or for “any or all TIDs.” For instance, 000 mayindicate an equal TID aggregation, 001 may indicate a proportional TIDaggregation, 010 may indicate a weighted round robin TID aggregation (anoptional sub-field may indicate the Weighted per TID), 011 may indicatea priority-based TID aggregation (an optional sub-field may indicate thePriority), and 100 may indicate a first come first serve TIDaggregation.

FIG. 13 illustrates the operation of another method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments. As mentioned previously regarding themethod 400, embodiments of the method 1300 may include additional oreven fewer operations or processes in comparison to what is illustratedin FIG. 13 and embodiments of the method 1300 are not necessarilylimited to the chronological order that is shown in FIG. 13. Indescribing the method 1300, reference may be made to FIGS. 1-12,although it is understood that the method 1300 may be practiced with anyother suitable systems, interfaces and components. In addition,embodiments of the method 1300 may be applicable to APs 102, STAs 103,UEs, eNBs or other wireless or mobile devices. The method 1300 may alsobe applicable to an apparatus for an AP 102, STA 103 and/or other devicedescribed above.

It should be noted that the method 1300 may be practiced by an AP 102and may include exchanging of elements, such as frames, signals,messages and/or other elements, with an STA 103. Similarly, the method400 may be practiced at an STA 103 and may include exchanging of suchelements with an AP 102. In some cases, operations and techniquesdescribed as part of the method 400 may be relevant to the method 1300.In addition, embodiments of the method 1300 may include operationsperformed at the AP 102 that are reciprocal to or similar to otheroperations described herein performed at the STA 103. For instance, anoperation of the method 1300 may include reception of a frame from theSTA 103 by the AP 102 while an operation of the method 400 may includetransmission of the same frame or similar frame by the STA 103.

In addition, previous discussion of various techniques and concepts maybe applicable to the method 1300 in some cases, including MPDUs,A-MPDUs, TIDs, ACs, QoS, AC constraint parameter, preferred ACparameter, AC preference level parameter, TID aggregation limitparameter, prioritization, acknowledgements, BA messages, delayed BAmessages, immediate BA messages and/or others. In addition, the examplesshown in FIGS. 5-12 may also be applicable, in some cases, although thescope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

At operation 1305, the AP 102 may transmit, to the STA 103, a TF thatindicates an uplink data transmission to be performed by the STA 103. Insome embodiments, the TF may be transmitted to multiple STAs 103 and mayindicate that multiple STAs 103 are to perform uplink datatransmissions. Accordingly, the TF may be a uni-cast TF, multi-cast TFor broadcast TF, in some embodiments. As previously described, the TFmay include parameters including the TID aggregation limit parameter, ACconstraint parameter and/or other parameters.

At operation 1310, the AP 102 may receive, from the STA 103, an A-MPDUthat includes MPDUs of a group of aggregate TIDs selected by the STA103. As previously described, the TID aggregation limit parameter, ACconstraint parameter may be transmitted by the AP 102 to indicate howthe STA 103 may select TIDs for aggregation of MPDUs into A-MPDUs.

At operation 1315, the AP 102 may transmit an immediate BA message tothe STA 103 to acknowledge whether or not one or more of the MPDUs ofthe A-MPDU are successfully received. At operation 1320, the AP 102 maytransmit a delayed BA message to the STA 103 to acknowledge whether ornot one or more of the MPDUs of the A-MPDU are successfully received. Aspreviously described (and as will be described below), the delayed BAmessage may not necessarily be transmitted by the AP 102 in some cases,and therefore some embodiments of the method 1300 may not necessarilyinclude operation 1320.

In some embodiments, when the number of aggregate TIDs is less than orequal to the threshold, the AP 102 may transmit an immediate BA messageto the STA 103 that includes reception indicators for MPDUs of theaggregate TIDs. When the number of aggregate TIDs is less than or equalto the threshold, the AP 102 may transmit an immediate BA message to theSTA 103 and may transmit a delayed BA message to the STA 103. Theimmediate BA message may include reception indicators for MPDUs of afirst portion of the aggregate TIDs. A number of aggregate TIDs of thefirst portion may be equal to the threshold, in some cases. The delayedBA message may include reception indicators for MPDUs of a secondportion of the aggregate TIDs. A number of aggregate TIDs of the secondportion may be equal to a number of aggregate TIDs minus the threshold,in some cases.

In Example 1, an apparatus for a station (STA) may comprise memory. Theapparatus may further comprise processing circuitry. The processingcircuitry may be configured to decode a trigger frame (TF) from anaccess point (AP). The processing circuitry may be further configured toselect a group of aggregate traffic identifiers (TIDs) from a group ofcandidate TIDs. Medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs)buffered at the STA may be mapped to the candidate TIDs based on traffictypes of the MPDUs. The processing circuitry may further configured toencode, for transmission to the AP, an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) thatincludes MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs. A number of aggregate TIDsselected may be based on a TID aggregation limit parameter included inthe TF. The candidate TIDs may be mapped to a group of access classes(ACs) of a quality of service (QoS) prioritization. The selection of theaggregate TIDs may be further based on a preferred AC parameter includedin the TF. The preferred AC parameter may be configurable to indicate apreferred AC of the group of ACs from which at least a portion of theaggregate TIDs are to be selected.

In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the group of ACsmay include a voice AC of a highest QoS priority, a video AC of a secondhighest QoS priority, a best effort AC of a third highest QoS priority,and a background AC of a lowest QoS priority. A first value of thepreferred AC parameter may indicate that the preferred AC is the voiceAC. A second value of the preferred AC parameter may indicate that thepreferred AC is the video AC. A third value of the preferred ACparameter may indicate that the preferred AC is the best effort AC.

In Example 3, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-2, wherein a fourth value of the preferred AC parameter may indicatethat the selection of the aggregate TIDs is unrestricted by the ACs ofthe candidate TIDs.

In Example 4, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-3, wherein a fourth value of the preferred AC parameter may indicatethat the preferred AC is the background AC.

In Example 5, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-4, wherein the TID aggregation limit parameter and the preferred ACparameter may be included in a common information field of the TF.

In Example 6, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-5, wherein the TF may further include an AC preference levelparameter. A first value of the preferred AC preference level parametermay indicate that the TIDs of the preferred AC are to be prioritizedover other candidate TIDs for the selection of the group of aggregateTIDs. A second value of the preferred AC preference level parameter mayindicate that the selection of the aggregate TIDs is unrestricted by theACs of the candidate TIDs.

In Example 7, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-6, wherein the TID aggregation limit parameter, the preferred ACparameter, and the AC preference level parameter may be included in atype dependent per user information field of the TF.

In Example 8, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-7, wherein when the preferred AC parameter indicates the preferred AC:a) when one or more candidate TIDs are mapped to the preferred AC, theselected group of aggregate TIDs may include the one or more candidateTIDs mapped to the preferred AC, and b) when a number of candidate TIDsmapped to the preferred AC is less than a number of aggregate TIDsindicated by the TID aggregation limit parameter, additional aggregateTIDs may be optionally selected from the ACs of lower QoS priority inaccordance with the QoS priorities of the group of ACs.

In Example 9, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-8, wherein the TID aggregation limit parameter may indicate athreshold of a number of aggregate TIDs for which MPDUs of the A-MPDUwould be acknowledged by the AP as part of an immediate acknowledgement.

In Example 10, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-9, wherein the processing circuitry may be further configured to, whenthe number of aggregate TIDs is less than or equal to the threshold,decode an immediate block acknowledgement (BA) message from the AP thatincludes a reception indication for MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs.

In Example 11, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-10, wherein the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs may be aggregated into theA-MPDU in accordance with a proportional TID aggregation, a prioritybased TID aggregation or a chronological aggregation. For theproportional TID aggregation, numbers of MPDUs from the aggregate TIDsmay be based on a group of predetermined ratios for the aggregate TIDs.For the priority based TID aggregation, the aggregation may be performedsequentially with respect to the aggregate TIDs in accordance withdescending QoS priorities of the ACs of the aggregate TIDs. For thechronological aggregation, the MPDUs may be aggregated based on timeindexes of the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs.

In Example 12, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-11, wherein the STA may be arranged to operate in accordance with awireless local area network (WLAN) protocol.

In Example 13, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-12, wherein the processing circuitry may include a baseband processorto decode the TF and to encode the A-MPDU.

In Example 14, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples1-13, wherein the apparatus further may include a transceiver to receivethe TF and to transmit the A-MPDU.

In Example 15, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium maystore instructions for execution by one or more processors to performoperations for communication by a station (STA). The operations mayconfigure the one or more processors to buffer medium access control(MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) for an uplink communication to anaccess point (AP), wherein the MPDUs are mapped to a master group oftraffic identifiers (TIDs) based on traffic types of the MPDUs. Theoperations may further configure the one or more processors to decode atrigger frame (TF) from the AP. The TF may include a TID aggregationlimit parameter. The operations may further configure the one or moreprocessors to select a group of aggregate TIDs from the master group ofTIDs for aggregation of the buffered MPDUs into an aggregate MPDU(A-MPDU). A number of aggregate TIDs in the group may be selected basedon an immediate acknowledgement threshold, indicated by the TIDaggregation limit parameter, for which the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDsthat are included in the A-MPDU would be acknowledged, by the AP, aspart of an immediate acknowledgement.

In Example 16, the subject matter of Example 15, wherein the TIDs of themaster group may be mapped to a group of access classes (ACs) of aquality of service (QoS) prioritization. The TF may further include apreferred AC parameter that is configurable to indicate a preferred ACof the group of ACs. The aggregate TIDs may be selected from the TIDsthat are mapped to the ACs that are of equal or lower QoS priority thanthe preferred AC.

In Example 17, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples15-16, wherein the TF may further include a preferred AC preferencelevel parameter that indicates whether the TIDs of the preferred AC areto be prioritized over other TIDs of the master group for the selectionof the group of aggregate TIDs.

In Example 18, a method of communication by a station (STA) may comprisedecoding a trigger frame (TF) from an access point (AP). The method mayfurther comprise selecting a group of aggregate traffic identifiers(TIDs) from a group of TIDs that are active at the STA, wherein mediumaccess control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) buffered at the STA aremapped to the active TIDs based on traffic types of the MPDUs. Themethod may further comprise encoding, for transmission to the AP, anaggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) that includes MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs. Anumber of aggregate TIDs selected may be based on a TID aggregationlimit parameter of the TF. The active TIDs may be mapped to a group ofaccess classes (ACs) of a quality of service (QoS) prioritization. Theselection of the aggregate TIDs may be further based on a preferred ACparameter of the TF that is configurable to indicate a preferred AC ofthe group from which at least a portion of the aggregate TIDs are to beselected.

In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18, wherein the group ofACs may include a voice AC of a highest QoS priority, a video AC of asecond highest QoS priority, a best effort AC of a third highest QoSpriority, and a background AC of a lowest QoS priority. A first value ofthe preferred AC parameter may indicate that the preferred AC is thevoice AC. A second value of the preferred AC parameter may indicate thatthe preferred AC is the video AC. A third value of the preferred ACparameter may indicate that the preferred AC is the best effort AC.

In Example 20, an apparatus for an access point (AP) may comprisememory. The apparatus may further comprise processing circuitry. Theprocessing circuitry may be configured to encode a trigger frame (TF)for transmission to a station (STA). The processing circuitry may befurther configured to decode an aggregated medium access control (MAC)protocol data unit (A-MPDU) from the STA that includes MAC protocol dataunits (MPDUs). The MPDUs may be mapped to a group of traffic identifiers(TIDs) based on traffic types of the MPDUs and the TIDs are mapped to agroup of access classes (ACs) of a quality of service (QoS)prioritization. The TF may include a TID aggregation limit parameterthat indicates a threshold of TIDs for the MPDUs of the A-MPDU for whichthe MPDUs would be acknowledged in an immediate block acknowledgement(BA) message. The TF may further include a preferred AC parameter thatis configurable to indicate a preferred AC for which MPDUs of TIDsmapped to ACs of QoS priority equal to or lower than the preferred ACare to be aggregated into the A-MPDU.

In Example 21, the subject matter of Example 20, wherein the group ofACs may include a voice AC of a highest QoS priority, a video AC of asecond highest QoS priority, a best effort AC of a third highest QoSpriority, and a background AC of a lowest QoS priority. A first value ofthe preferred AC parameter may indicate that the preferred AC is thevoice AC. A second value of the preferred AC parameter may indicate thatthe preferred AC is the video AC. A third value of the preferred ACparameter indicates that the preferred AC is the best effort AC.

In Example 22, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples20-21, wherein the TF may further include an AC preference levelparameter that indicates whether the MPDUs of the TIDs of the preferredAC are to be prioritized over other MPDUs of other TIDs for theaggregation of the MPDUs into the A-MPDU.

In Example 23, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples20-22, wherein the TID aggregation limit parameter, the preferred ACparameter, and the AC preference level parameter may be included in atype dependent per user information field of the TF.

In Example 24, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples20-23, wherein the AP may be arranged to operate in accordance with awireless local area network (WLAN) protocol.

In Example 25, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples20-24, wherein the processing circuitry may include a baseband processorto encode the TF and to decode the A-MPDU.

In Example 26, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples20-25, wherein the apparatus may further include a transceiver totransmit the TF and to receive the A-MPDU.

In Example 27, an apparatus for a station (STA) may comprise means forbuffering medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) for anuplink communication to an access point (AP), wherein the MPDUs aremapped to a master group of traffic identifiers (TIDs) based on traffictypes of the MPDUs. The apparatus may further comprise means fordecoding a trigger frame (TF) from the AP. The TF may include a TIDaggregation limit parameter. The apparatus may further comprise meansfor selecting a group of aggregate TIDs from the master group of TIDsfor aggregation of the buffered MPDUs into an aggregate MPDU (A-MPDU). Anumber of aggregate TIDs in the group may be selected based on animmediate acknowledgement threshold, indicated by the TID aggregationlimit parameter, for which the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs that areincluded in the A-MPDU would be acknowledged, by the AP, as part of animmediate acknowledgement.

In Example 28, the subject matter of Example 27, wherein the TIDs of themaster group may be mapped to a group of access classes (ACs) of aquality of service (QoS) prioritization. The TF may further include apreferred AC parameter that is configurable to indicate a preferred ACof the group of ACs. The aggregate TIDs may be selected from the TIDsthat are mapped to the ACs that are of equal or lower QoS priority thanthe preferred AC.

In Example 29, the subject matter of one or any combination of Examples27-28, wherein the TF may further include a preferred AC preferencelevel parameter that indicates whether the TIDs of the preferred AC areto be prioritized over other TIDs of the master group for the selectionof the group of aggregate TIDs.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for a station (STA), the apparatuscomprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configured to: decode atrigger frame (TF) from an access point (AP); select a group ofaggregate traffic identifiers (TIDs) from a group of candidate TIDs,wherein medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) bufferedat the STA are mapped to the candidate TIDs based on traffic types ofthe MPDUs; encode, for transmission to the AP, an aggregated MPDU(A-MPDU) that includes MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs, wherein a number ofaggregate TIDs selected is based on a TID aggregation limit parameterincluded in the TF, wherein the candidate TIDs are mapped to a group ofaccess classes (ACs) of a quality of service (QoS) prioritization, andwherein the selection of the aggregate TIDs is further based on apreferred AC parameter included in the TF, the preferred AC parameterconfigurable to indicate a preferred AC of the group of ACs from whichat least a portion of the aggregate TIDs are to be selected.
 2. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the group of ACs includes avoice AC of a highest QoS priority, a video AC of a second highest QoSpriority, a best effort AC of a third highest QoS priority, and abackground AC of a lowest QoS priority, a first value of the preferredAC parameter indicates that the preferred AC is the voice AC, a secondvalue of the preferred AC parameter indicates that the preferred AC isthe video AC, and a third value of the preferred AC parameter indicatesthat the preferred AC is the best effort AC.
 3. The apparatus accordingto claim 2, wherein a fourth value of the preferred AC parameterindicates that the selection of the aggregate TIDs is unrestricted bythe ACs of the candidate TIDs.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 2,wherein a fourth value of the preferred AC parameter indicates that thepreferred AC is the background AC.
 5. The apparatus according to claim1, wherein the TID aggregation limit parameter and the preferred ACparameter are included in a common information field of the TF.
 6. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the TF further includes an ACpreference level parameter, a first value of the preferred AC preferencelevel parameter indicates that the TIDs of the preferred AC are to beprioritized over other candidate TIDs for the selection of the group ofaggregate TIDs, and a second value of the preferred AC preference levelparameter indicates that the selection of the aggregate TIDs isunrestricted by the ACs of the candidate TIDs.
 7. The apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the TID aggregation limit parameter, thepreferred AC parameter, and the AC preference level parameter areincluded in a type dependent per user information field of the TF. 8.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the preferred ACparameter indicates the preferred AC: when one or more candidate TIDsare mapped to the preferred AC, the selected group of aggregate TIDsincludes the one or more candidate TIDs mapped to the preferred AC, andwhen a number of candidate TIDs mapped to the preferred AC is less thana number of aggregate TIDs indicated by the TID aggregation limitparameter, additional aggregate TIDs are optionally selected from theACs of lower QoS priority in accordance with the QoS priorities of thegroup of ACs.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the TIDaggregation limit parameter indicates a threshold of a number ofaggregate TIDs for which MPDUs of the A-MPDU would be acknowledged bythe AP as part of an immediate acknowledgement.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, the processing circuitry further configured to,when the number of aggregate TIDs is less than or equal to thethreshold, decode an immediate block acknowledgement (BA) message fromthe AP that includes a reception indication for MPDUs of the aggregateTIDs.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the MPDUs of theaggregate TIDs are aggregated into the A-MPDU in accordance with aproportional TID aggregation, a priority based TID aggregation or achronological aggregation, for the proportional TID aggregation, numbersof MPDUs from the aggregate TIDs are based on a group of predeterminedratios for the aggregate TIDs, for the priority based TID aggregation,the aggregation is performed sequentially with respect to the aggregateTIDs in accordance with descending QoS priorities of the ACs of theaggregate TIDs, and for the chronological aggregation, the MPDUs areaggregated based on time indexes of the MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs. 12.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the STA is arranged tooperate in accordance with a wireless local area network (WLAN)protocol.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry includes a baseband processor to decode the TF and to encodethe A-MPDU.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theapparatus further includes a transceiver to receive the TF and totransmit the A-MPDU.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processorsto perform operations for communication by a station (STA), theoperations to configure the one or more processors to: buffer mediumaccess control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) for an uplinkcommunication to an access point (AP), wherein the MPDUs are mapped to amaster group of traffic identifiers (TIDs) based on traffic types of theMPDUs; decode a trigger frame (TF) from the AP, wherein the TF includesa TID aggregation limit parameter; select a group of aggregate TIDs fromthe master group of TIDs for aggregation of the buffered MPDUs into anaggregate MPDU (A-MPDU), wherein a number of aggregate TIDs in the groupis selected based on an immediate acknowledgement threshold, indicatedby the TID aggregation limit parameter, for which the MPDUs of theaggregate TIDs that are included in the A-MPDU would be acknowledged, bythe AP, as part of an immediate acknowledgement.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein: theTIDs of the master group are mapped to a group of access classes (ACs)of a quality of service (QoS) prioritization, wherein the TF furtherincludes a preferred AC parameter that is configurable to indicate apreferred AC of the group of ACs, and the aggregate TIDs are selectedfrom the TIDs that are mapped to the ACs that are of equal or lower QoSpriority than the preferred AC.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 16, wherein the TF further includes apreferred AC preference level parameter that indicates whether the TIDsof the preferred AC are to be prioritized over other TIDs of the mastergroup for the selection of the group of aggregate TIDs.
 18. A method ofcommunication by a station (STA), the method comprising: decoding atrigger frame (TF) from an access point (AP); selecting a group ofaggregate traffic identifiers (TIDs) from a group of TIDs that areactive at the STA, wherein medium access control (MAC) protocol dataunits (MPDUs) buffered at the STA are mapped to the active TIDs based ontraffic types of the MPDUs; encoding, for transmission to the AP, anaggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) that includes MPDUs of the aggregate TIDs,wherein a number of aggregate TIDs selected is based on a TIDaggregation limit parameter of the TF, wherein the active TIDs aremapped to a group of access classes (ACs) of a quality of service (QoS)prioritization, and wherein the selection of the aggregate TIDs isfurther based on a preferred AC parameter of the TF that is configurableto indicate a preferred AC of the group from which at least a portion ofthe aggregate TIDs are to be selected.
 19. The method according to claim18, wherein: the group of ACs includes a voice AC of a highest QoSpriority, a video AC of a second highest QoS priority, a best effort ACof a third highest QoS priority, and a background AC of a lowest QoSpriority, a first value of the preferred AC parameter indicates that thepreferred AC is the voice AC, a second value of the preferred ACparameter indicates that the preferred AC is the video AC, a third valueof the preferred AC parameter indicates that the preferred AC is thebest effort AC.
 20. An apparatus for an access point (AP), the apparatuscomprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configured to: encode atrigger frame (TF) for transmission to a station (STA); and decode anaggregated medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU) fromthe STA that includes MAC protocol data units (MPDUs), wherein the MPDUsare mapped to a group of traffic identifiers (TIDs) based on traffictypes of the MPDUs and the TIDs are mapped to a group of access classes(ACs) of a quality of service (QoS) prioritization; wherein the TFincludes a TID aggregation limit parameter that indicates a threshold ofTIDs for the MPDUs of the A-MPDU for which the MPDUs would beacknowledged in an immediate block acknowledgement (BA) message, andwherein the TF further includes a preferred AC parameter that isconfigurable to indicate a preferred AC for which MPDUs of TIDs mappedto ACs of QoS priority equal to or lower than the preferred AC are to beaggregated into the A-MPDU.
 21. The apparatus according to claim 20,wherein: the group of ACs includes a voice AC of a highest QoS priority,a video AC of a second highest QoS priority, a best effort AC of a thirdhighest QoS priority, and a background AC of a lowest QoS priority, afirst value of the preferred AC parameter indicates that the preferredAC is the voice AC, a second value of the preferred AC parameterindicates that the preferred AC is the video AC, and a third value ofthe preferred AC parameter indicates that the preferred AC is the besteffort AC.
 22. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the TFfurther includes an AC preference level parameter that indicates whetherthe MPDUs of the TIDs of the preferred AC are to be prioritized overother MPDUs of other TIDs for the aggregation of the MPDUs into theA-MPDU.
 23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the TIDaggregation limit parameter, the preferred AC parameter, and the ACpreference level parameter are included in a type dependent per userinformation field of the TF.
 24. The apparatus according to claim 20,wherein the AP is arranged to operate in accordance with a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) protocol.
 25. The apparatus according to claim20, wherein the processing circuitry includes a baseband processor toencode the TF and to decode the A-MPDU.
 26. The apparatus according toclaim 20, wherein the apparatus further includes a transceiver totransmit the TF and to receive the A-MPDU.